Putin makes sweeping Cabinet changes

Posted: Thursday, March 29, 2001

VLADIMIR ISACHENKOVThe Associated Press

MOSCOW - With the most sweeping government changes since he was elected president a year ago, Vladimir Putin on Wednesday strengthened his control over Russia and expanded his power base by naming staunch loyalists to the key jobs of defense and interior ministers.

The Cabinet changes, which come amid a chill in relations with the United States, put Sergei Ivanov, Putin's confidant and fellow KGB veteran, in charge of streamlining the bloated and underfunded military. And he put Boris Gryzlov, a newcomer to the political elite, in charge of police and interior forces.

While Putin described the shake-up as an effort to demilitarize Russia's political life, analysts interpreted it as an attempt to consolidate his grip on power and shed the staff and legacy of his predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, who resigned on Dec. 31, 1999.

Putin won a special election on March 26, 2000. "Putin has finally moved to form his own Cabinet," said Vyacheslav Nikonov, the head of the Politika think-tank.

Western governments had long recommended that Russia follow the practice of putting a civilian in charge of the military, and Putin described the reshuffle as a "deliberate effort to demilitarize Russia's public life."

"Civilians are taking key positions in the military structures," he said in announcing the Cabinet changes at a Kremlin meeting.

Although Putin has touted him as a civilian defense minister, Ivanov spent his career with the KGB and its successor spy service. He reached the rank of lieutenant general, and retired from active service only in November.

Ivanov, 48, is a fluent English speaker who was posted to several foreign countries during his KGB career, and has long been close to Putin. He is broadly considered the No. 2 figure in the Russian political establishment and has played a key role in shaping Russia's foreign and security policy.

Ivanov's appointment came amid a tit-for-tat spy scandal with the United States in which up to 50 diplomats from each country are being expelled.

Ivanov replaces Igor Sergeyev, who becomes a Kremlin adviser. Sergeyev has been mired in a bitter dispute over military reform with the chief of the general staff, Anatoly Kvashnin. Sergeyev advocated more funds for the nuclear forces, his former service branch, while Kvashnin wanted more for conventional forces

"Putin wants the military to be led by a person who is fully loyal to him and will not allow any hesitation or discord," said Yevgeny Volk, the head of the Heritage Foundation's Moscow office.

Bogged down by infighting, the generals have dragged their feet on reforming the 1.2 million-strong Defense Ministry force, which has been plagued by funding shortages, dismal conditions and low morale.since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

Putin said Ivanov, who last fall drafted an ambitious plan to cut the force by 365,000, would be the right man to lead the military. "He headed the group that worked out the reform guidelines, and it would be reasonable for him to carry it out," Putin said.

Ivanov, speaking on Russian television, said he would focus on modernizing the military's aging arsenal. "The armed forces must be more professional, mobile and capable," he said.

The Cabinet shake-up, described as a "personnel revolution" by Russian television, was welcomed by politicians across the political spectrum - a reflection of Putin's popularity and his dominant position in politics.

"I think the military is lucky," Communist Party head Gennady Zyuganov said of Ivanov's appointment. On the opposite flank, Boris Nemtsov, the head of the liberal Union of Right Forces faction, voiced hope that the reshuffle would speed reforms.

Putin also said the shake-up was linked with the changing situation in and around breakaway Chechnya, after car bombs in southern Russia this weekend killed at least 23 people. He dismissed Interior Minister Vladimir Rushailo and appointed him to replace Ivanov as the secretary of the policy-setting Security Council.

Replacing Rushailo will be Gryzlov, a leader of the pro-Kremlin Unity party. His appointment was considered a surprise.

Other changes included replacing embattled Atomic Energy Minister Yevgeny Adamov with Alexander Rumyantsev, head of the Kurchatov Institute, Russia's leading nuclear research center.

Adamov has been under fire in connection with corruption allegations against him and his proposal to import nuclear waste for reprocessing. Liberal politicians and environmentalists applauded his departure.

Putin also named a woman, former deputy finance minister Lyubov Kudelina, as deputy defense minister. It was an unusual move in Russia, which has not moved to open more military posts to women.